I have a question about which direction my DAYTONS should be pointing to get the best possible performance. My HWK15 has one speaker in the top chamber and one in the bottom chamber (hooked up out of phase)with both woofers pointed into the center chamber. I was told the HWK15 would perform better by turning the speakers around and pointing the woofer toward the ports thus leaving the magnet/basket pointed into the center chamber. I would like to know the pros/cons of both set ups. I have two HWK15s so should I just change one of them around and have the best of both worlds. Any help would be gladly appreciated.

Thanks for the reply JROCK. What do you mean by lower tuning. Will it lower the Hz response. Will it increase the SPL output. My problem is changing something that is devastating already. Grandpa always said "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Can you give me an idea of the numbers (Hz/SPL/accuracy/response) between the different set ups. THANKS

each way you arrange the drivers and wireing will sound slightly different. you have to try different arrangements and see which one you like best.if you like what its doing now, leave it for a few weeks and change something later, when you have a couple hours to kill and you feel like it.

yeah the best thing would be to keep one the same and mess with the other one- that way you can compare all changes. Once you find something better, keep the changed cabinet and mess with the other one until you find your favorite alignement.

Switching the drivers around now thoug will allow the HWK to play lower frequencies. SPL and accuracy will depend on your drivers and really can't be modeled anyways.

Thanks for the help JRock and 60ndown. I have switch one of the HWK15 around and plan on running my test today. I will be using AVIA (LFE 100Hz sweep) and my SPL meter to check the difference in DB. I plan on taking readings directly from the ports top and bottom. Do you think this will be an accurate test? I will be testing different movies to see how each HWK15 sounds and SPL output. I know both of you are right. Listen to both set ups and figure out which one sounds the best. Trial and error is the only way to learn. THANKS

Keep your SPL meter away from the ports. That would be like placing your anemometer next to your sail to measure wind velocity. Assuming you have no real port noise problem there is not much to learn there.

One of the things that a well tuned cabinet will do is sound good in the room that your are using it in. The sound you hear doesn't relate directly to what happens in the area of the port as much as what happens after that pressure excites the air in the room. Better than how much of a certain noise escapes your ports is the reading of how much of which sound is propagated and reflected into the room.

The most important measurement and placement for a SPL meter is right at the listener's position. If you're doing sweeps and have multiple listening areas you'll have to take multiple readings and compromise for the best sound at your favorite spot.

Remember that the physical placement of the cabinet is somewhat critical and some positions will affect more room characteristics than others. The easiest thing to do is to try it with music until you are sure you have the most natural sounding placement. Then if you want numbers for some reason or if you're having a serious problem getting a good sound, use your SPL meter and record the results.

WOW! Dirtdawg that info really helps. I was unsure if direct port measurements was the way to go. I sometimes get hung up on SPL. I know it is not the most important but old habits die hard. When testing movies I try to take SPL measurements from the sweet spot/main viewing area. I have been looking at an audio analyzer from MCM ( part# 555-7440). I was curious if anyone had any experience with audio analyzers and would this device help me get away from the SPL meter thus tuning the system to the room instead of to my ego. THANKS.

[quote author=HT-EXT link=1133965043/0#7 date=1134045780] thus tuning the system to the room instead of to my ego. THANKS. [/quote]

sounds like your almost there, use an old cd, one you have had a long time and know and like well. set everything to flat or 0 on your amps. place your sub where you want it in the room. adjust volumes of speakers and sub useing your 'favorite' cd, untill it sounds best in your 'normal' sitting position. if you can get it to sound great like this then your done, sit back and enjoy. if you cant ....start tweaking

A real time audio analyzer is nothing more than a SPL meter with a certain standard set of frequencies tuned in to show a graphic display of the overall spectrum simultaneously. The 2 units each have specific advantages over the other and are designed to serve 2 different purposes.

The analyzer is mainly used to set an equalizer in a sound system for a desired and repeatable response curve, whether it's flat or tailored to individual preferences. It will take some of the guess work out of setting a system to a predictable tolerance. While a SPL meter can be much more sensitive to room resonances because there is no certain group of frequencies it is tuned to, it can also be very distracting when trying to set an EQ.

The best use of an SPL meter is measuring frequency sweeps for finding problem frequencies and room nodes and dealing with them. Since there are no set frequencies tuned in that the SPL meter works at, you can find very narrow bandwidth response problems that a spectrum analyzer will miss. Some meters have interchangeable microphone heads that alter the pattern of directionality, making them even more useful. But, it's also fun to brag about max SPL!

Most of the Pro Audio type analyzers are set to display 1/3 octave centers all along the audio spectrum, but many are less sensitive and not very effective. If you already have a meter and aren't planning to set the system up a different way or in a different place every few days, just use what you've got and spend that extra money on disks.

Also, remember that in order to get the most accurate results using either type of unit you should place the microphone on a stand, because the proximity of your body will affect the readings.

Thanks 60ndown and Dirtdawg. Please bare with me because I learning something new about home audio everday. I have been told if you can get music to sound good everything else will follow. Is this true? When playing music I set the receiver to stereo but of course when watching movies it is set to digital (7.1 Dolby Digital EX or DTS ES). Will these two different settings (stereo and digital) support the same adjustments. I know the surround and center will be adjusted to personal preference but all else should be close to the same adjustments. I watch movies more than I play music(80% vs. 20%).THANKS

The best way to use the same unit for both music and movies is to have a separate amplifier for the LFE/sub channel. I find that modern (DTS encoded) movies are recorded with far more Low Frequency and Hi Frequency content than music CDs. I end up changing the sub amp each time I switch from movies to CDs and back. It would be great to use a remote control sub amp for this, but I also cut the HF control some for CDs. I'm a little picky with music and I watch a lot of older movies so my problems and solutions may not apply to your situation.

Thanks Dirtdawg. All LFE equipment have there own amp. HWK15s,BUTTKICKER,etc have a seperate subwoofer plate amp luckly with remote. Almost everytime after playing music and then watching a movie the BOOM! will need adjusting(turn down). It seems to me that DD and DTS have much louder bass response than most music. The EAGLES on dvd(HELL FREEZES OVER) still kicks regardless. I APPRECIATE ALL THE HELP!!!